This invention relates to a tool holder for use with a perforated support panel and, more particularly, to a tool holder providing improved strength characteristics and greater versatility.
Tool holders are used to hold objects, such as hand tools, garden tools, instruments, wires, cables, display items and picture hangers, to a perforated support panel. In the past, such support panels were referred to as pegboards or perfboards. One known tool holder includes a base plate having a central engagement portion which receives, in projecting fashion, a hook, spring clip, tray, or other type of tool support or engagement member. At laterally opposite ends of the central portion are an aperture and a tab. A locking screw is passed through the aperture and threaded into a perforation of the perforated support panel to prevent removal of the tool holder from the support panel. The tab projects rearwardly of the central portion and is spaced from the aperture the same distance as the distance between adjacent perforations in the support panel. The tab is inserted into a perforation adjacent the perforation in which the locking screw is inserted. The tab prevents the base plate from rotating about the locking screw. A drawback to the aforedescribed and other tool holders is that the base plate can easily become loosened between the support panel and the locking screw when subjected to heavy loads and/or strain.
One known tool holder made of plastic includes a fastener button which has a pair of fingers stemming from a collar. The fastener button is inserted into a perforation in a support panel so that the pair of fingers are exposed on the other side of the support panel and the collar seats within the perforation. A screw is inserted into an opening in the fastener button to spread the fingers apart and into engagement with the rear surface of the support panel. A drawback to this type of tool holder is that, because the fingers are made of plastic, they are more susceptible to fatigue when flexed and/or subjected to heat stresses. It has been found that over prolonged periods of time the plastic fingers tend to lose their memory, making the screw difficult to remove from the fastener button and, consequently, making it difficult to remove the tool holder from the support panel. Also, repeated insertion/removal of the screw into/from the opening tends to wear the inside of the opening and, if the screw is also made of plastic, the screw as well.
Briefly, an aspect of the invention relates to improvements in tool holders which overcome one or more of the aforesaid drawbacks encountered with prior tool holders.
According to an aspect of the invention, a tool holder includes features enabling improved attachment to a perforated support panel. The support panel has at least first and second spaced perforations passing therethrough. The tool holder includes a base plate at one end thereof and a panel engaging tab at an opposite end thereof, wherein the base plate includes an aperture for receiving therethrough a fastener for insertion into the first perforation to attach the tool holder to the support panel, and wherein the panel engaging tab is sized and dimensioned for insertion into the second perforation and includes a step portion connected to and extending rearwardly from the base plate a distance less than the thickness of the support panel such that, when the tool holder is attached to the support panel by the fastener, a front surface of the tab engages a rear surface of the support panel at a portion of the perimeter of the second perforation, whereby the tab flexes relative to the base plate.
In an embodiment of the invention, the base plate includes an engagement portion located between the aperture and the panel engaging tab for securing thereto a tool supporting implement. The panel engaging member may extend from the base plate such that, when the tool holder is attached to the support panel by the fastener, a tool supporting implement secured to the engagement portion engages the front surface of the support panel. Also, the engagement portion may be offset forwardly from a front surface of the base plate.
In an embodiment of the invention, the step portion is spaced from the center of the aperture approximately the same distance as the distance between the first and second perforations.
In an embodiment of the invention, the panel engaging tab extends from the base plate such that, when the tool holder is attached to the support panel by the fastener, a rear surface of the base plate engages a region of the front surface of the support panel. In an embodiment, the region at which the rear surface of the base plate engages the front surface of the support panel is at a portion of the perimeter of the second perforation diametrically opposite that at which the front surface of the tab engages the rear surface of the support panel. In yet another embodiment, the panel engaging tab includes a biasing member that is sloped outwardly relative to a plane in which the rear surface of the base plate lies.
According to another aspect of the invention, a tool holder is adapted for installation into a first support panel or a second support panel, the support panels having different thicknesses and respective first and second perforations. The tool holder includes a base plate at one end thereof, a biasing member at an opposite end thereof, and an intermediate step portion therebetween, wherein the biasing member is sized and dimensioned for insertion into either of the first or second perforations and the step portion is less in length than the thickness of either the first or second support panels such that, when the biasing member is inserted into either of the first or second perforations and urged towards a rear surface of the respective first or second support panel and the base plate is urged towards a front surface of thereof and attached thereto, the biasing member flexes relative to the base plate and secures the tool holder the respective support panel.
In an embodiment of the invention, a front surface of the biasing member engages the rear surface of the respective first or second support panel at a portion of the perimeter of the respective first or second perforation. In addition, or alternatively, a rear surface of the base plate engages a front surface of the respective first or second support panel at a portion of the perimeter of the respective first or second perforation at a region diametrically opposite that of the portion of the perimeter at which the front surface of the biasing member engages the rear surface of the respective first or second support panel.
In an embodiment of the invention, the tool holder includes an aperture for receiving either a first fastener suitable for attaching the tool holder to the first support panel or a second fastener having a different diameter than that of the first fastener and suitable for attaching the tool holder to the second support panel. In still another embodiment, the biasing member and base plate extend in opposite directions from the base plate. Also, in an embodiment, the biasing member is generally in a plane that is at a non-parallel angle relative to a plane in which the base plate is in. The angle may be any angle which would cause the biasing member to flex as the base plate is attached to the support panel to improve the secured attachment of the tool holder to the support panel.
The foregoing and other features of the invention are hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail an illustrative embodiment of the invention, such being indicative, however, of but one of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.